Administration

After examination of the information obtained from the five schools, we believe the ideal administration would be as follows:

• Principal—organizes resources of school, personnel and facilities, student achievement; work with handful of students
• Assistant Principal—oversees counseling and student affairs; enrollment coordinator; student discipline
• Office Manager—handles enrollment and registration, attendance, transcripts, student cumulative folders; permanent record folders for students; communication letters, news letters; paperwork for field trips; phone calls
• Community Liaison—organizes events and is liaison between school and community
• Governing Council—made up of an equal number of parents (elected) and staff, plus the principal
• Open Door Committee—principal, special education head, migrant education head, academic language develop head
• Grade Level Leadership Groups—grade level representatives elected by colleagues meet every two weeks to discuss school operations and logistical matters

It is important to note that all of our administration staff will be required to be bilingual in English and Spanish. The principal and assistant principal will be required to have a Master’s degree in Education Administration or Education Leadership (United States Department of Labor, 2008-2009). Our ideal administration is a mix of all the schools I examined, but we have primarily chosen the Alianza Charter School as a model for our ideal school for several reasons. Alianza is a bilingual school in the same area as our ideal school, so that school is aware of the needs of the bilingual students and the surrounding community. In addition the principal, Michael Jones, was satisfied with the administration in his school, but he would like an Assistant Principal, which is the reason I have an assistant principal in my suggestion for an ideal administration. Like the principal of Pacific Coast Charter suggested, the Ideal School will try to keep the separate groups to a minimum.

We believe the Governing Council, Open Door Committee, and the Grade Level Leadership Group all serve individual and distinct purposes while maintaining a simple governing structure. The Governing Council serves as a bridge between the parents and the staff. The Open Door Committee is a way for the heads of the major departments and the principal to communicate and determine the most effective ways to run each program. Lastly, the Grade Level Leadership Groups allow grade level representatives to meet and discuss important issues, as well as to relay this information to the teachers within each grade level.

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